Creative hearts, skilled hands, & inspiring minds, meet our featured artists

 In a world often captivated by expansive landscapes and bold exterior scenes, Margaret Martin invites us to look inward—into rooms, corners, and quiet arrangements filled with personal meaning and luminous light. A lifelong painter with a formal background in fine art and education, Margaret dedicates half her studio time to exploring the evocative nature of interior spaces. In this interview, she shares why these subjects matter, how they differ from traditional still life, and what it means to her to paint from the inside out. 

Many of Margaret's works reflect her love of landscape, but some reveal the 'inner landscape', through use of the ancient Mandala form, rendered in colour pencil. Additionally she represents the architectural interior as a regular subject in her acrylic paintings.

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Margaret is a graduate of Fine Art (Specialization), University of Guelph, and hold a Degree in Education from Queen's University (teachable subject visual art). Margaret is now retired from a teaching career, which included teaching art to youth, children, and adults.

email: mbmartin36@gmail.com

Botanical art is more than a beautiful representation of plants—it is a bridge between science, history, and artistic expression. This centuries-old discipline has documented plant life with precision and artistry, preserving knowledge and enhancing our understanding of the natural world. While its origins lie in scientific discovery, botanical art remains relevant today, offering a meaningful connection between traditions and contemporary artistic and environmental concerns.

Before photography, botanical illustration was the primary method of documenting plant species. Early explorers and botanists relied on skilled artists to record their discoveries with meticulous detail, ensuring accurate classification and study. These artworks remain vital references for researchers, conservationists, and educators. In an age of digital imaging, the careful observation and interpretative skill of botanical artists still provide a level of accuracy and clarity unmatched by photography.

Botanical art also holds an important place in cultural history. From the pages of popular magazines to the grand botanical prints of the Victorian era, these illustrations have informed scientists, gardeners, and collectors for centuries. Museums and scientific institutions worldwide still house historical botanical plates that serve as biodiversity records, capturing plants that may have since become endangered or extinct.

Despite its deep roots in science and tradition, botanical art is far from outdated. Today, it continues to thrive as a scientific tool and a contemporary art form. Many artists use botanical illustration to address modern themes such as climate change, habitat destruction, and sustainability, making it a powerful voice for environmental advocacy. Weller explains, “If I can use my paintings to bring attention to a species that is disappearing, then I know I’m doing something valuable. And if I can inspire others to appreciate and protect the plants around them, then botanical art is doing exactly what it was meant to do.”

Through exhibitions, botanical gardens, and conservation initiatives, botanical artists highlight the delicate relationship between humans and nature. Their work inspires appreciation for plant diversity and encourages conservation efforts in a world facing rapid ecological change.

Beyond its scientific and environmental impact, botanical art offers a profound artistic discipline. It teaches patience, close observation, and technical precision, increasingly rare skills in an era dominated by digital media. Contemporary botanical artists bring fresh perspectives to this classic genre, blending traditional methods with new techniques in painting, printmaking, and even digital illustration.

Kerri Weller’s Botanical Art Series at Stone Manor Studios provides a structured yet flexible learning experience for those eager to explore botanical art. Her workshops help students master drawing and watercolour techniques, ensuring that this timeless practice continues to evolve and inspire a new generation of artists.  Weller explains, “I tell my students, 'We’re all at different stages, we’re all at different levels. The only thing that matters is that you work to the very best of your ability.’ My expectation is always that they strive for excellence.”

Whether serving science, history, or artistic expression, botanical art remains as valuable today as it was centuries ago. It is a discipline that records the beauty of the plant world and deepens our connection to it, preserving and celebrating nature for future generations.

https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/what-is-botanic-art

https://ntbg.org/news/the-science-of-art-why-botanical-illustration-matters/

While our era is shaped by fast-paced digital innovation and ever-changing artistic trends, the quiet, intentional work of wildlife artists can feel as though it belongs to another time. In a world where countless forces compete for our attention, artists like Kristi Bird encourage a slower, more mindful approach to art, one grounded in patience, presence, and a deep reverence for the natural world.

Kristi, an Ontario-based wildlife artist, has spent years capturing the landscapes and creatures of her surroundings with care and clarity. Her canvases are rich with light and detail: the vivid contrast of a red cardinal perched on a snowy branch, the soft morning mist curling around a loon on Rideau Lakes. Her work is not just a reflection of nature, it’s an invitation to feel it.

“I want the light to feel alive,” she says. “Like the painting is breathing a little.”

And yet, for all their beauty, Kristi’s paintings do not always find homes easily.

“I’ve had my 15 minutes,” she says with a smile. “Now, where’s the fame?”

Wildlife art occupies a demanding corner of the art world. Buyers often expect either flawless realism or something so original that it breaks away from tradition altogether. For artists like Kristi, who strive to bring emotional resonance and technical excellence into harmony, that expectation can be difficult to meet.

“You’re constantly measured against perfection,” she explains. “Not just by other artists, but by memories, how someone recalls a bird at their feeder, or a sunset at the lake. You’re not just painting an image. You’re painting a feeling someone already believes they know.”

Praise is generous, but it doesn’t always translate to sales. “Sometimes I feel like I’ve got it right,” she says. “And the piece just sits there.”

You're competing with photography, nostalgia, memory, and modern design trends. Abstract and minimalist artworks often blend seamlessly into clean, contemporary interiors. Wildlife and landscape paintings, on the other hand, carry story, emotion, and a strong sense of place. Their richness can be a challenge for collectors trying to match a curated space and that hesitation often leaves nature-inspired work on the sidelines.

Kristi hasn’t come to her art easily. Her journey has been shaped by both grief and joy, and painting has become a personal act of healing. Through her careful attention to birds, trees, and light, she finds a way back to the world, one scumbling brushstroke at a time.

Her connection to nature is more than aesthetic. It’s emotional, restorative, and quietly political. “Preservation and education aren’t abstract to me,” she says. “They’re how I deal with my own darkness and with the damage I see in the world.”

In her studio, Kristi moves between large and small canvases, letting each subject dictate the scale. A butterfly may take centre stage on a small panel or a wide, open lake might stretch across several feet of canvas. “It’s hard to predict what people will connect with,” she says. “So I trust what I love. I paint what I see, and what I think is worth seeing.”

Each piece is built up in delicate layers of lightly applied acrylic paint which build up over a slow and meditative process that creates a sense of light from within. The technique is unique and many students are interested to learn how she does it.  Kristi’s work draws you in and creates lasting impact. 

At last year’s Rideau Lakes Studio Tour—her most successful show to date—Kristi heard the same phrase again and again: “It’s beautiful.”

“That’s what I’m painting toward,” she reflects. “Not a trend, not what’s fashionable—just a sense of beauty, whatever that means to someone. Nature is beautiful. And I’m in awe every time I take the time to really look at it.”

Kristi recently led a two-day workshop at Stone Manor Studios as part of its Daffodil Days Celebration of Creativity series. With a focus on pollinators and spring blooms, the workshop invited participants to slow down and look closely, mirroring Kristi’s own process of observing the natural world. “It’s in nature that creativity abounds,” she says. “It’s where we begin again.”

In a world driven by speed and spectacle, wildlife art may seem quiet, almost outdated. But perhaps that quiet is exactly what we need. Kristi’s paintings don’t simply invite us to admire nature. They ask us to care about it. To see its beauty, its fragility, and our responsibility to it.

Her paintings aren’t just images—they’re quiet calls to protect what’s vanishing. And to heal, both personally and collectively, by remembering our place within the living world.

“It doesn’t need to shout,” she says. “It just needs to be seen. I’m not chasing fame, I’m painting toward something that heals. For me, and maybe for someone else who needs it, too.”

Kathy McNenly, a resident of Almonte, ON, is a highly skilled and accomplished artist renowned for her expertise in classical oil painting techniques. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University in 1986. Driven by a desire to study a more representational approach to painting, she took classes part-time with John Angel at the National Portrait Academy from 1982-1987 in Toronto. In 1991, Kathy travelled to Florence, Italy, and attended the Atelier Cecil-Graves for a term. She has also participated in figure painting workshops with Michael Grimaldi at the Grand Central Atelier in New York City and completed online Dutch Flower painting workshops with Carlo Russo.

With over 20 years of teaching experience, Kathy has taught traditional painting techniques first with the City of Ottawa and currently for the Kanata Art Club. Her teaching philosophy focuses on providing students with the technical means to produce representational images, ensuring concepts of form, tone, and colour are understood while allowing individual expression of style. Her multi-level classes suit all skill levels, incorporating demonstrations and personalized guidance to address students' needs.